HISTORY
 
 
The Europe Theatre Prize (60,000 Euros), a pilot programme launched by the European Commission, was inaugurated in 1986/87 under the auspices of the European Community, as a prize to be awarded to personalities or theatrical companies that "have contributed to the realisation of cultural events that promote understanding and the exchange of knowledge between peoples."
In keeping with these criteria, the first artist to whom an international jury, led by Irene Papas, awarded the Europe Theatre Prize in 1987 was Ariane Mnouchkine for her work with the Théâtre du Soleil.
The presentation of the award to Mnouchkine proved to be a "thrilling and visionary coup de théâtre": at the prize-giving, broadcast via Eurovision from the Greek Amphitheatre in Taormina, the director said she hoped the barriers that still divided Europe into two separate blocs would be eliminated, and that she intended to dedicate her prize to artists in the "other" Europe, then under Communist rule. At a time when it was becoming increasingly difficult to produce committed theatre also in the West, the prize allowed the Théâtre du Soleil to continue to pursue its activities and research.
That same year, the then European Commissioner of Culture Carlo Ripa di Meana decided to award a special prize to the Greek actress Melina Mercouri, who had been appointed as her country's Minister of Culture, for having succeeded in combining her love of politics and her profound cultural awareness in her public and artistic activities.
The next edition of the Europe Theatre Prize focused more intensely and directly on the chosen artist and his way of working.
Taormina awarded the prize to Peter Brook that year, introducing a new section that has since become one of the most characteristic and appreciated features of the Europe Prize: an analysis and study of the work of the prize-winning artist, which that year took the form of three unforgettable days of meetings, consisting of a memorable improvised dialogue between Peter Brook and Grotowski, a wealth of personal accounts and testimonies, video screenings, and demonstrations, open to the public, given by the eminent director and some of his favourite actors.
The stimulating activities of those three days are documented in the book entitled Gli anni di Peter Brook.
Since the second edition, the Europe Prize has been under the patronage of the Council of Europe and UNESCO, and has collaborated with the Association Internationale des Critiques de Théâtre.
The third edition saw the prize go to Giorgio Strehler for his important contribution to the creation of a Europe of theatre and culture. It was then that the Union des Théâtres de l'Europe began to collaborate, and the Europe Prize New Theatrical Realities (20,000 Euros) was founded - and awarded to Anatolij Vassil'ev. The Russian director created a remarkably intense workshop-production for the occasion.
The conference dedicated to Vassil'ev was complemented by a reading of scenes from Jouvet's Elvira and a Passion for the Theatre by Strehler and Giulia Lazzarini, who also commented on the work. The poet and dramatist Heiner Müller received the award at the fourth edition. The Europe Prize New Theatrical Realities went to Giorgio Barberio Corsetti for new scenic techniques, to the Comediants for street theatre, and to Eimuntas Nekrosius for his work as a theatre director. The various juries gradually shaped the programme of events at each edition: the third Europe Theatre Prize, therefore, featured days of intense research and analysis, combined with many creative happenings and performances, in which a considerable number of internationally-famous theatre people and directors participated.

The productions included Prometheus, with its ingenious interplay of words and music, by Heiner Müller, directed by Heiner Goebbels; Faust by Giorgio Barberio Corsetti; Mozart and Salieri and a European preview of scenes from The Three Sisters, directed by Eimuntas Nekrosius, which were instrumental in making the Lithuanian director's work known in the rest of Europe. The Ritorni section welcomed back Anatolij Vassil'ev who presented the European preview of Molière's Amphitryon in the magnificent setting of the S. Domenico Hotel.
The fifth edition went outside Europe, for the first time, to pay tribute to Robert Wilson and the planetary dimension of his theatre: Wilson presented Persephone and the conference dedicated to him was greatly enlivened by his remarkable warmth and vivacity.
The Europe Prize New Theatrical Realities was shared by the Théâtre de Complicité, one of the most interesting English companies to emerge in recent times, and the great revelation Carte Blanche-Compagnia della Fortezza that for years has been developing the idea of theatre as a way of reclaiming freedom and human dignity, working with inmates of the prison in Volterra (Italy). The Ritorni section featured a production by Vassil'ev, The Lamentations of Jeremiah, inspired by spirituality, music and Orthodox rites, and presented a world preview of excerpts from Hamlet by Nekrosius.
The jury of the sixth edition, led by Jack Lang, awarded the Europe Prize to Luca Ronconi and the fourth Europe Prize New Theatrical Realities to Christoph Marthaler. The programme was filled with performances and events, and culminated in the presentation of the awards. It featured two international conferences: "Spettacolo dal vivo: informazione, critica, istituzione" ("Live Performance: Information, Criticism, Institutions") followed by "Metodo Ronconi" ("Ronconi's Method").
Ronconi staged an episode from The Brothers Karamazov and conducted a rehearsal, open to the public, of Questa sera si recita a soggetto by Pirandello, during which he revealed some of the secrets of his "method". The meeting with Christoph Marthaler revealed his pungent irony and brilliant creative mind, and offered great insight into the theatrical approach of a personality who is considered a genius by all who have worked with him. The Ritorni section was dedicated to Robert Wilson, who celebrated the centenary of Bertolt Brecht's birth by presenting with the Berliner Ensemble Der Ozeanflug, based on texts by Brecht, Heiner Müller and Feodor Dostoyevsky.
Pina Bausch's dance theatre and her charismatic personality gave a new slant to the seventh edition of the Europe Prize.
The dancers and collaborators who spoke about the German artist's work at the international conference, "Sulle tracce di Pina" ("In Pina's Footsteps"), hailed from places as far apart as Europe and India, Japan and the United States, Palermo and Australia. It was a journey filled with emotion, memories and performances, which ended magnificently with Small
Collection, an anthology presented by Pina Bausch and her famous Tanztheater di Wuppertal, with films, videos and a photographic exhibition to complete the picture.
The fifth Europe Prize New Theatrical Realities was presented to the Royal Court Theatre for showcasing and defending new, controversial playwrights like Sarah Kane, Mark Ravenhill, Jez Butterworth, Conor McPherson and Martin McDonag. The Royal Court Theatre's activities were spotlighted at the meeting Di scena il Royal Court, during which actors from the Royal Court gave readings and work demonstrations, based on the most recent British plays. Ian Rickson directed the first Italian performance of The Weir by Conor McPherson.
In the Ritorni section, Christoph Marthaler and his remarkable ensemble presented Die Spezialisten with enormous success.
The parallel initiatives included two important meetings: "Scrivere/rappresentare" ("Writing/Performing"): new European drama presented by the Europe Prize jury, followed by a mise en espace staged by the Théâtre Ouvert and "L'Arte dell'attore, sviluppi e cambiamenti negli ultimi quindici anni" ("The Actor's Art, Developments and Changes in the Last Fifteen Years"), a debate organised by the Union des Théâtres de l'Europe, in which Erland Josephson, among others, participated. The Convention Théâtral Européenne has been associated with and supported the Europe Prize since this seventh edition.
By awarding the Prize to Lev Dodin, the last edition - the eighth - not only honoured one of Stanislavsky's most brilliant students, but also opened a window on the non-stop activities undertaken by the Siberian director and the Maly Teatr of Saint Petersburg, where, despite institutional and economic instability, the theatre scene is more creative and lively than anywhere else in Europe. It was possible to appreciate Dodin's work, and the context in which he generally works, at a conference with a host of speakers and testimonies, and in two productions : The House by Feodor Abramov - which Dodin expressly wanted to bring to Taormina - and the world preview of Molly Sweeney by Brian Friel.
The sixth Europe Prize New Theatrical Realities went to the Dutch Theatergroep Hollandia; to the young German director Thomas Ostermeier and to the Italian Societas Raffaello Sanzio. The prize-winners presented four productions: Voices by Pasolini and Ongebluste Kulk (Hollandia), Crave by Sarah Kane (Thomas Ostermeir), Amleto, la veemente esteriorità della morte di un mollusco (Societas Raffaello Sanzio).
A special prize was awarded to the BITEF (Belgrade International Theatre Festival), and a special mention went to Ibrahim Spahic for the role his theatre played in the desperate days of the war in Sarajevo.
The "return" of Peter Brook (1989 Europe Theatre Prize) with Le Costume, by South African dramatist Can Themba, which the Europe Prize and Taormina Arte coproduced, was a tribute to one of the greatest living directors and his rigorous, multifaceted approach to theatre.